So, yesterday I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of our local YMCA. We have a really big, nice Y with a large weight and exercise room. My husband had gone to work out in an effort to counteract some of the damage done by the food extravaganza that always seems to accompany the holiday season. I was picking him up. Why was I picking him up instead of working out with him, you ask? The answer is simple. Public. Humiliation. I'm not really into it. I would rather lock myself in the room at home where we keep the treadmill, turn on the TV, and walk to my heart's content - alone. So any humiliation taking place is private, not public. No witnesses. No tee heeing. No self-consciousness. Just me. No cheerleader-type, cute young, thin girls in their lycra work out clothes looking at me thinking that if they looked like me they would shoot themselves (why are they even there anyway?). No old gross men who think they're still 25 looking at me and enjoying it (probably because most of them are blind without their glasses, which they leave in their locker).
AND - - no chance of seeing someone I know. That's the worst part for me. I could probably deal with the young lycra cladden girls because - hide the guns, honey - little do they know, they WILL look like me someday. And I can handle the drooling old guys who stare because they're just blind and pathetic. But people I know seeing me??!! Maybe even people I work with?!? That I couldn't handle. Some things to me are just meant to be private - working out is one of them.
So, I'll continue to pick up my husband when he needs a ride. And I'll continue to lock myself in the treadmill room. The young girls and the pathetic old geezers will just have to find someone else to laugh or stare at.
I agree! My husband keeps saying I could go to the gym too....No thanks! I might have to make uncomfortable small talk with neighbors when I really just want to get my exercise groove on and over.
ReplyDeleteI go to the gym, I need the equipment. Or rather, want it because if I don't get up and go there, I will find something more "pressing and urgent" to do here ate home. I ignore the girls in lycra (or lulu lemon here in BC), and just focus on what I need to get done. But exercising is the important part, who cares where we get it...right?
ReplyDeleteI do my work outs at home too. I don't want to have to make with the chit chat and I don't want to work out on the gym's schedule. I like working out early (before work) so that means 5:30. The two gyms that are reasonable close don't open until 6:00. About 8 or 10 years ago, I traded in gym membership for an elliptical cross-trainer, a rowing machine, and a stationary bike. I alternate those machines with early morning walks or bike rides - avoid getting in a rut. With gym membership at $40/mo (which I am certain has gone up by now), I long ago made good on the initial $$$ spent on the equipment. I'm not sure how much good the daily exercise actually does but , like Larissa says, at least I am getting some.
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh! I ran into a neighbor at the gym one time, it was awful. "Oh, hi Mike. How ya' doing?" ugh. I also joined Curves once, and HATED it because the owner made us chat and even gave us little quizzes while we worked out. I had to introduce myself EVERY TIME I went. yeah, that lasted about 2 months. Now, I keep the jiggles at home!
ReplyDeleteAnnie and I have been walking daily (hiking) on Bell Springs Road, which is dirt, since 1985. Doesn't cost a dime, and has paid dividends, as far as closeness goes, since we began. Great look at why neither of us wants to ever go into one of the health clubs. That and the fact that the nearest one is more than an hour away.
ReplyDeleteI would be annoyed by the old geezers. Not just the staring, but the attempts to start conversations or hit on me. - I avoided a laundromat for over a year because of that! Not sure how I'd feel about co-workers. After all, they'd be there too!
ReplyDeleteI prefer to work out at home because it's cheaper, I can do it any time of day or night, and I don't have to deal with getting to and from the gym - which, by the way, I think should be counted as part of the workout!
Ditto and this made me laugh a lot!
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